Barcelona midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos’ knee operation went as planned on Tuesday, but the youngster is still expected to spend six months on the sidelines recovering.

Jonathan Dos Santos has not featured much of late.

Dos Santos, 23, suffered the serious anterior cruciate ligament injury in training in late October, and has now undergone a complicated procedure overseen by Barca’s medical staff to sort out the problem.

The Catalan club released a statement saying the procedure had been a success but it would likely be April at the earliest before the Mexican international would be playing again.

"Jonathan Dos Santos was successfully operated on this morning, following the injury to his right knee suffered in training last month," the statement read. "Doctors Joan Carles Monllau and Ricard Pruna carried out the operation with the assistance of Egarsat. Dos Santos was injured in training on October 23 and is expected to be out for about six months."

Dos Santos had featured rarely under coach Gerardo Martino in the opening months of the season, and had been tipped to join Real Sociedad on loan during the January transfer window.